FCCT cannot guarantee immunity to guest speakers

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand prides itself on being a forum for free speech in this country, as it has been for more than fifty years, but we are in no position to guarantee immunity to speakers at the club, as suggested by Professor Pitch Pongsawat.

We have hosted speakers from all sides of the political spectrum in Thailand, and will continue to do so, despite the controversy surrounding the speech by Jakrapob Penkair last August. But we are still bound by the laws of Thailand, as all our panellists are aware before they agree to speak. For this reason, we do not vet addresses to the club in advance.

It is unfortunate that the FCCT was not contacted for a response by the author of this article. It is also surprising that so many people seem to expect our club - a private organisation catering to journalists, diplomats and others, both Thais and foreigners, who are interested in current affairs - to be the space in which freedom of expression in Thailand should be tested.

We would also like to point out that the FCCT is not responsible for the reliability of translations from English into Thai, or any other language, of speeches made at the club. According to its bylaws, the official language of the club is English. We therefore urge the most careful examination of the provenance and quality of any translations that may be cited.

FCCT Executive Board

Bangkok

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Fear, ignorance and hatred must be man's ugliest traits

Re: "Racism still remains man's ugliest trait", Tell It As It Is, The Nation, June 12.

While I commend Pauline Kanchanalak for choosing to write about the subject of racism in her column I think she is off base and remiss on a couple of points. In the first place, she blithely dismisses the sexism faced by Senator Hillary Clinton in her bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, saying "nothing compares to what Obama has had to overcome during the primaries ... simply because he is black".

I think it's obvious to almost anyone who has been following the race for the nomination that, at this point in time in the US, sexism appears to be a bigger hurdle to overcome for a candidate than racism. On the very same day Pauline's column appeared in The Nation, Nicholas Kristoff wrote in his New York Times column: "Racism is deeper, but sexism may be wider in America today. In polls, more Americans say they would be willing to vote for a black candidate for president than for a female candidate."

While slavery, lynchings and segregation are indisputably among the most shameful marks on American history, let's not forget that women were burned at the stake as "witches" (an epithet often used to describe Senator Clinton by Obama supporters). The abduction of poorer women for "white slavery" was fairly common until the early 20th century, and that black American males constitutionally received the right to vote a half century before white American women. My intent is not to play down the sufferings of African Americans or make a competition out of who has suffered more. That would be ridiculous and inappropriate. But it's also wrong for Pauline to pooh-pooh the sexism faced by Senator Clinton and other women.

In pointing to terrible instances of racism, Pauline cites several examples from the US, Europe and the Middle East. Conspicuously absent are examples from Asia. The Rape of Nanking and the biological experiments performed on Chinese by the Japanese during World War II come immediately to mind. Although both groups are Asians, beliefs of racial differences and superiority were the driving force behind Japan's criminal actions.

And let's not forget Thailand. How many Burmese, Karens, Khmers and others will continue to be murdered, exploited or enslaved by abusers in this country who feel free to commit these crimes because their victims are not Thai?

Lastly, when I see the photographs of lynchings in the US, with people gathered around and smiling, they often remind me of the photos of students being lynched at Sanam Luang on October 6. I wish Pauline had used the examples of racism in the US to prompt her Thai readers to think a bit about racism in their own society. At the root of racism are fear, ignorance and hatred. Surely those are man's ugliest traits.

Robert Horn

Bangkok

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Obama is no bridge to America's great divide

Re: "Obama singing with angels: dancing with the force", The Nation, June 10. 

I think S Tsow needs to stop listening so much to what Obama says and take a look at what he has done. A thorough study of his entire two years as a US senator will show that Obama has never  been one to try to bring both sides together;in fact his voting  record has been completely one sided. That is, to the liberal left.  

Assuming S Tsow is a liberal, I guess this suits him. But unless Obama is totally reborn at some point soon, all his talk about being the one to bridge the great divide in America is just that, talk. The majority of Americans are in the middle, if not somewhat right, as past elections have shown.  But hey, if enough drink the Kool-Aid being offered by Obama like S Tsow, I guess he could buck the trend and get elected!

Joe Faist

Bangkok